“Too bad. Sit down. Hern is supposed to be arriving relatively soon and we’ll both be meeting with him. I’d like to talk to him about what he knows of those attacks, and then figure out what we can do to try and put an end to it if possible,” Felix said.
Grimacing, Michael took a seat on Felix’s right hand side.
Andrea looked from Felix to Michael and then back again.
“When are you going to spoil me?” Andrea asked in that loud whisper of hers.
“Tonight. I plan on heading into Legion city tonight and have a meal. In person, no less. Without a mask. And you and Adriana Prime will be coming with me,” Felix said.
Andrea’s ears perked up and she clapped her hands together excitedly.
Adriana Prime, who was standing five feet away, nearly had the same reaction. Though with an SMG in hands it was a bit muted.
“Yay!” they said in unison.
The other Adrianas began immediately talking in hand signals between themselves.
“They’re arguing about who gets to go with her,” Michael said, watching the exchange.
“Mm, maybe I need to get someone to teach me whatever that language is that they’re using,” Felix muttered.
“Don’t look at me, I actually have no idea about the language, but an argument is an argument, and that one seems pretty obvious.”
Felix couldn’t help but start to laugh. Now that he was watching, it was obvious to anyone that the Adrianas were arguing.
Overthinking things, Felix… overthinking things.
Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t hurt that I’m a Fixer. Their thoughts are about as subtle as a knife.”
“Felix, here comes Hern,” Andrea said, standing up from the table.
Michael and Felix did the same, holding their hands out to Hern.
It wasn’t until Hern shook his hand, and a bit strangely, that Felix realized that handshakes might not be the custom here.
Another thought for another time, but it might be part of the very problem we’re facing here.
“Hern, welcome. I don’t want to waste your time, as I know it’s valuable. I’ll keep everything short and to the point,” Felix said, indicating the seat directly across from himself.
Hern grunted and sat himself down. He looked as crotchety and grumpy as ever. The man stared at Felix and waited for him to continue.
“How are you feeling about our arrangement?” Felix asked, getting straight into it.
Hern fought to keep something from showing on his face before he wrinkled his nose. “Everyone said you were direct… I’m happy with the arrangement so far. I worry about the fact that you’ll not share your magic with us without us signing one of your papers… but I understand. Magic is a powerful weapon,” Hern said, his voice slow as he puzzled out what he wanted to say.
“Indeed, it isn’t a matter of faith or trust in you, it’s more of a belief that our foes are stronger than we wish. Now, is there anything you’d want to add to the deal as it exists today?” Felix asked, redirecting the conversation.
Hern looked at the table, his thoughts clearly turning inward. “Not that I can think of.”
“Ok, do you feel like you’re being cheated in any way?” Felix asked
“No… but I do worry that eventually we’re going to run out of recruits for you… at that point… what happens to our arrangement?” Hern asked, setting a hard stare on Felix.
“It remains. There’s one thing you need to keep in mind, and I think this might be a great opportunity to discuss it. When word spreads about what’s going on here, there will be many, many people who migrate and move here,” Felix said, laying his hands flat on the table and leaning forward. “And when they come, they will see your community as the entry point. And while many will join Legion, not everyone will. In fact, I imagine quite a few will have family in your community, even though they work for me.”
Hern had become motionless, listening intently to Felix.
“So while you’re losing many of your people to Legion now, that’s only your original investment. Your return will be coming as word spreads. Especially that the local pantheon was summoned, and then left. While they may power spells and beliefs still, their direct intervention is no longer possible.”
“The thirteen will hear you,” Hern whispered, making some type of warding sign on his chest.
“If anything, I’d prefer that they did hear me. The more their followers attack this camp, the more we’ll be forced to retaliate. I don’t want to have to fight, but I’ll not hesitate if I feel like we’re under attack. I’ll not stop their beliefs, but I will take their lives without a thought,” Felix promised.
Hern glanced upward, and waited.
Nothing happened. There was no response of any sort.
And that’s part of the problem, isn’t it. Gods are real. You’ve seen some, Felix. How do you even counter that? How does one protect against that?
Need to figure out something, because believing they won’t attack us directly is naive.
I’ll put in a request to Lily to add a “no worship of any deity that is not sworn to Legion” clause. It sounds awful, but not taking the preventative steps now would create more problems down the road.
He couldn’t help but sigh over what he knew would be a contentious point. It was likely they were about to lose some people. That was better than opening themselves to attack later though.
“Speaking of that, what do you know of the attacks that have been ongoing? I saw a fireball heading this way earlier,” Felix said.
Grumbling, the old man tore his eyes from the heavens and looked off to the side.
“The young and stupid, the overly zealous, and the cast offs. They lure people in with the promise of an amazing afterlife for service to the gods. Few of my tribe hear them out, less even consider their words,” Hern said.
It didn’t take a mind reader to realize he was embarrassed and ashamed at the same time.
“Hm. Radicals, then. I suppose that’s fairly straightforward. Have there been any attacks on your people?”
Again, Hern’s face flickered with something Felix couldn’t quite discern. “Nothing serious. A beating, and some harassment.”
Felix drummed his fingers on the table. This was a question of ideology, rather than combatants.
He could easily hunt down people, storm houses, and round them up in the way a modern army might do.
But we have so many more tools than they do.
“I understand. Great. I think that’s more or less everything I need. It’s been a pleasure to meet with you again,” Felix said. He stood up and held his hand out to Hern.
The older man stood up as well, shaking Felix’s hand.
“Thank you. I appreciate your direct nature. Goodbye,” Hern said, turning and heading back the way he’d come.
Once he was out of earshot, Felix made his decision.
“First, let’s get eighty percent of the long range Wardens here. They’re not doing much sitting underground right now. We’ll need to construct platforms for them to use, but they should make excellent long range defenders,” Felix said.
“Additionally, while we’re waiting on training up a contingent of local Fixers, let’s pull about thirty of the Fixers from Earth’s pool. For those thirty, I want them trained in guerrilla warfare, special operations tactics, and counterinsurgency. Then I want them to spend every day and night in those camps,” Felix said, his eyes hard. “Tell all of them that this’ll be a weapons free operation. If a target is discovered, they’re to act with their own discretion.”
That might actually help us figure out what we need to do at a cultural level here as well.
“I’ll get that done,” Andrea said, immediately diving into her terminal.